mr. -- and president obama. offered for their support in dealing with the situation. on thursday morning the algerian forces mounted an operation. we were not informed of this in advance. i was told by the algerian prime minister while was taken place. he said the terrorists tried to flee. they just there to be an immediate threat to the lives of hostages and felt obliged to respond. when i spoke to the algerian minister last night, he told me the first operation was complete but this is a large and complex area and they're still pursuing terrorists and possibly hostages in other areas of the site. the algerian prime minister has told me they are looking at four possible ways to resolve the crisis. last night, the number of british citizens out risk was less than 30. thankfully, we know the number has been significantly reduced. i am sure the house will understand why during an ongoing operation cannot say more this stage. mr. speaker, our priority remains the safety of british nationals, the repatriation of those killed, and the evacuation of the wounded and freed ho